Fictive Gleam
by Ria Lee
Summary: ONESHOT. Written for Robyn's A Touch of Shakespeare challenge. Ginny Weasley shouldn't have trusted Draco Malfoy from the start. "All that glisters is not gold, Weasley. You should have known that sooner."


Disclaimer: It is all known that Harry Potter does not belong to anyone but JK Rowling. Any characters you know aren't mine, same goes to the quote lent from William Shakespeare for the sake of this story.

Author's Note: This fic does not make any sense at all, because I was tired when I made this. But if you get the gist, then that's good. This fic is a response to Robyn's open challenge, _A Touch of Shakespeare_. Enjoy!

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**Fictive Gleam**

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"_All that glisters is not gold, often have you heard that told."_

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_Over the years, I've been quietly drawn to Malfoy. He has been my silent confidant ever since Tom invaded my seclusion in his m__anically evil scheme. Nobody knows of it of course, because it's unimaginable. Who would think of us as such? To the naked eye, we're just two people caught up on a generation-long blood feud that isn't likely to end at all. No sane person would even waste his neurons on investigating whether this is true or not, because even the thought of it is preposterous enough for anyone to believe in; which is why this secret has been preserved for so many years, even until now that I'm already in my fifth year. He was not privy to my thoughts, not at all. He was there with me in every single endeavour I had to face. He had not thought of leaving my side even once. He would tell me that Tom could never hurt me again, because he'd save me from him. He would carefully scrutinize everything from a distance and would give me a furtive glance which always wants me to recognize that he was, indeed, there. _

_I reckon he has undoubtedly made me involuntarily depend on him. As when I usually __go out of my comfort zone, all I think about is him. I look for a sign of him anywhere, especially during Quidditch practices. When I go to the Great Hall with the Trio, I always feel left out—which puzzles me, because we're an even number, and everyone gets to have someone—but when I see him across the table, casting another clandestine look, I feel safe. I don't know what made me trust him; it's as if he knows the vulnerable side that he's supposed to protect. If that even makes so much sense…_

_But as you know, good things will always come to an end. Mine is no exception of that. After the O.W.L.s, I'd often lose sight of him. He'll always saunter around the halls and then turn swiftly to another side of the hall as if he was on a hurry to perform a long-due task of some sort. Not even sparing a little of his grey eyes to meet my brown ones, he'd do the same old, same old Draco things he does before he became my friend. He was slowly reverting to his old self, and I can't risk any of it out of his skin again. _

_There are some things that sometimes arouse my curiosity, some uncharacteristically new of him that I noticed. He was becoming neglectful of his duties as prefect—the one really obvious thing I've noticed of him since he was not roaming around the campus during nighttime anymore. He's even spending a little of his time in his Quidditch practices that he excused himself for the last game of the season, claiming he was sick. Also, he's been slipping in and out of the Room of Requirement for a long time now, looking all-exhausted with an air of incertitude. _

_The Golden Trio have been quite frustrated as to what Draco is up to. Harry was especially disappointed that, as far as his self-proclaimed intelligence could take him, could not seem to deduce anything out of the stealthy doings of the blonde. They've been discussing things such as _loyalty to the Dark Lord_ though, which immediately made me realize something…_

_I just hope this isn't what I think this is._

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"Couldn't sleep?" Ginny bolted upright as she realized who the owner of the voice was. It was as if she had been lucidly dreaming, with all the fireflies swarming around them and his presence slowly creeping up after weeks of not seeing him. She felt like she was in one of those stories told by Beedle the Bard before, only it was happening right at this instant.

"Uhh, y-yeah," she stammered, mentally slapping herself seconds after her mouth spat out the words. She felt him sit beside her, and she had to cover her face from blushing. Heck, it was her first time sitting beside Malfoy after all these years of notes-passing and curt nods down the halls! It'd be a miracle if she stayed sane after this encounter.

Draco, on the other hand, was slowly making himself comfortable with all the grass and the tree behind him, all the while trying to formulate a coherent string of conversation-starters to avoid the awkward air. He had not been known as the one starting the talk, so, naturally, he felt the pressure—but still keeping the Malfoy mask of nonchalance in place, not noticing how slowly it fell apart. Finally, after minutes of silence, he spoke out.

"Life's harsh, isn't it? We have to make a sacrifice to be happy, even take a life to experience the mirth we once had before."

Ginny's head rose at this. His actions and remarks have been quite intriguing lately. The Draco Malfoy she once knew was arrogant, snide, and probably was the side-comment bank of all things sarcastic and derogatory. Heaving a sigh, Ginny turned her head to look at him at a better angle. He looked so uncharacteristically tired, uncertain and stressed, as seen from his eyebags—which could only be seen at a very, _very_ close distance, might I add. He quite lacked the confident air in him, something very un-Malfoy-ish. She smiled sadly, as if understanding what he was trying to say.

"You know, some things are supposed to be left undone. You don't have to strain yourself to experience happiness, you just feel it in your heart," she looked on to the lake spread out before them and admired the reflection of the sky from it. She turned to him again and smiled as she saw him look up, eyes closed, and taking a deep breath straight from nature. Unknowingly, she reached out to him and touched his forearm, which immediately made him put on his mask of indifference as he jerked it back and stood up abruptly.

"A-Are you sick? Your arm is scorching hot!" Ginny stood up as well, facing him with an apologetic look. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and pierced her soul with those grey orbs of his.

"As expected, Weaselette, you are such a bloody tosspot. Grow some sense in your head, will you?" he snidely remarked, slightly irked by the fact that she could still not fathom how or even _why_ his forearm was burning hot. Ginny, on the other hand, was slowly sinking into realization as she looked up at the sky to the roar of thunder at a distance. The wind around them suddenly became soggy, as if implying a danger ahead of them, of _her_.

"W-What are you talking about?" she eyed him warily as he was busy looking back at the castle for any signs of life lurking beneath the shadows. He involuntarily cradled his left forearm, giving Ginny the answer to what she had been asking herself all these times.

"You're one of them…" she breathed stiffly. She wanted to scream for believing in all the lies he had been indirectly throwing her for all those years. Draco faced her with cold, grey eyes—something she had never seen before—and rolled his left sleeve up for her to see the symbol she had been terrified of for the last five years, a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. She took a tentative step forward to try and sooth him. This probably shocked him that he pulled his wand out and pointed it to her.

"You made me believe that Tom would never hurt me again! You bloody liar! How could you—" she stopped when her eyes caught something in the sky, the Dark Mark was hovering above the Astronomy tower, a good distance from where they're from. Panic was painted all over her face, as she understood what was happening above them. She faced him again, this time, with contempt.

"I trusted you, Malfoy. I trusted you with my life! Professor Dumbledore trusted you! How could you let them in?" she whimpered as she drew her wand out as well; mimicking his stance, ready to fight.

"I have to do this! Don't you understand? He will kill me!" he slightly shook, eyes repeatedly closing for fear of any emotional breakdown soon. He gripped his wand tighter, trying to calm down its shaking.

"Why me? Why, of all people, did he have to choose me?" she cried, finally breaking down.

"You know too much information concerning him. He thought you'd be a great example to scare blood-traitors such as your family—your _pathetic _family—away from the Muggles. He has exposed his secrets to you, thinking that he'll be able to kill you along with that stupid Potter in the Chamber, but he was wrong. It's the time to correct all his mistakes. I have to do this or he will kill me, he'll punish my family—my father especially, eradicate our existence if I don't succeed in this!" he half-shouted as he stepped forward, eager to kill the only Weasley girl in a short distance; eager to scare her into submission.

"I thought you were my confidant, _Malfoy_. You tricked me into believing something you aren't!" she retorted, slightly backing down, feeling the water by her feet.

"Your _what?_" he suppressed a laugh at that, which made Ginny's blood boil all the more.

"Stop blathering nonsense, will you? You should realize _Weasley _that all that glisters aren't gold; you should have known that by now, having been fooled by the Dark Lord once. Didn't your _good ol' _mother teach you not to trust people you don't even know?" he sneered and took another step closer, slowly reverting to his old self.

Ginny was about to retort when she heard a sadistic chortle from a distance, and Draco, also sensing another person's presence—which most likely is his aunt Bellatrix with a couple of Death Eaters—got a crumpled parchment from his from pocket and shove it to her face. Unsure of what's going on, she tried to talk only to have him clamp his hand to her lips with his arm around her waist and whispered something to her as he declared loudly, _"Avada Kedavra!"_ and threw her body to the lake, making sure she was far enough for them to notice.

Bellatrix heard him holler the Killing Curse as a jet of green light briefly appeared before she saw Ginny Weasley collapse to the lake. The other Death Eaters, Greyback, the Carrows and Yaxley cheered as Bellatrix conjured the Dark Mark for the second time that night, successfully completing the task Voldemort assigned them. Amycus Carrow congratulated him, flashing a toothy grin as he reached out and patted him on the back for the great job he has done. Snape threw his robe behind him causing it to billow, and led the way towards Hagrid's hut, the five of them following suit. Draco lingered for a while before Bellatrix motioned him to follow them.

"Draco, dear, you've done a great job tonight. The Dark Lord will forever appreciate this mission once we finish this useless giant!" Bellatrix was singing a taunting song and was dancing all around them while casting a nonverbal spell to set Hagrid's hut aflame.

None of them noticed a dead deer by the lake, near the entrance of the castle.

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"_Do not get your head out of the water until all of us gets out of here."_

Ginny Weasley poked her head out of the water and looked around for any signs of lurking creatures. Seeing that there weren't any, she swam back to land and felt her head ache while doing so. After successfully getting out of the Black Lake, she then went back to the castle and to the Gryffindor Common Room, feeling tired with all the happenings. Just as she was about to change her soppy clothing with dry ones, she remembered the parchment given by Malfoy seconds before he threw her to the lake. She felt for it on her pockets and slowly got the drenched thing out as she unfolded it carefully to avoid it from being torn. The handwriting doesn't look as if it was hastily written, as though he had already known and planned everything out. Though the inks were smeared in ugly patterns, Ginny was able to decipher the message clearly, and it made her cry.

"_Ginny,_

_As you'__ve probably heard from your friends, I'm slowly directing my allegiance to the Dark Lord. It's not as if I wanted this, but he has been offering me lots of chances lately, even offering my father a pardon from his imprisonment if I ever perform the tasks perfectly. I hope you understand that this isn't any normal mission, given the fact that it was Voldemort himself proposing this and the prizes at stake. _

_After you read this, I want you to stay beside Potter and the others at all times. I thought I'll never say this, but they are your only __hope of survival. The Dark Lord will surely find you; he will do whatever it takes to destroy you, so you will have to stay alert and never _trust_ anyone you aren't familiar with. Never be deceived by a fictive gleam of any sort. He will come back to Hogwarts and search for Potter and you, so you'll have to hide until Potter kills him. This is the best I could do to protect you from being invaded by Voldemort again, so just do as I say and you'll be safe. _

_As for me, don't worry. I'll be fine._

_Draco"_

She felt guilty for ever having yelled at him earlier. She sighed and looked at the stars, the Dark Mark almost unseen from the darkness blanketing over the castle. She wiped the tears and squared her shoulders as she stood up confidently.

Draco kept his promise. He offered her protection, and even though it was just tentative, she should not waste this rare second chance she had been given.

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**END**

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Credits to **mishaa** for beta-reading this fic. =) Love you man! :D


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